New Trailer

Hell yeah

You know what reeeeeaaaaallllly bothers me?

I never understood the law against flyering telephone poles. It seemed like an arbitrary law, one that gave that downtown "ripper" some curmudgeonly quest. I never found flyered poles unsightly, so it seemed more like a slight against fun.

But that's all changed now. Living on the southeast corner of a busy intersection in downtown Arcata means my house and yard are in the direct path of every flyer that blows off of a pole. Which is nearly every one. It's windy in this town, and staples, duct tape and nails are no match.

Now my daily charge is to walk through the yard and pick some tattered shit. And I expect this from the knuckleheads who pull up in their lifted 'pornstar' and 'fat rat records' ass-mobiles, but every telephone pole in Arcata is sporting an AS and Center Arts flyer. Shouldn't a venerable institution like HSU follow the law in this town?

And you know what else? Anyone looked at the Center Arts lineup this year? Not bad, some regulars and as usual some intriguing bands and performers. But shit my knickers, it's $65 to see Chris Isaak. $55 for students. Who are they fucking kidding? Looks like only the Arcatarati and dopers are gonna be seeing shows on campus this year.

There's a few at $25 and the cheapest I saw, at $20 (for students) is Gillian Welch. Good for her.

Clumsy Oaf

Yesterday was a loud day. During our after work beer, my Mom and I were subject to a neighbor chainsawing palm fronds.

Later I exploded an inner tube by over-inflating it and that is no small bang! I guess I've never done that before and in the enclosed space of a garage it was tinnitis-inducingly loud. Fun. Plus it explodes in a cloud of talc so I picture myself like the classic post-explosion soot covered guy.

And to top it off I dropped a fresh twelve pack of beer (or rather, it fell off of the counter) on my foot. Only one bottle broke but the ensuing sudsiness seemed like a whole lot more.

UPDATE:

When riding home yesterday a black cat ran across the road in front of me, so I guess it could have been worse.

Hurtin' Burton

Disclaimer: I haven't cared for a Tim Burton movie since 1994's Ed Wood, which was excellent. So every new project he does puts me on edge.

Which brings me to his latest project, yet another remake of a often retold and re-imagined story-- Alice in Wonderland. While I might have been excited about the prospect of TB doing this 15 years ago, it seems all too apropos for a guy who I see as creatively spent and riding the coattails of his quirky early years. What better material than Alice, right?

But these early peeks look like they've just taken the same old Alice imagery and CGI-ed it up. Not that there's anything wrong with the classic blue-dress Alice or chubby-cheeked flowers, but if they couldn't find something more groundbreaking, why bother?

Check out the pictures here.

I think that modern Burton has more say in the production design of his films, to their detriment. Without Henry Selick (the real brains behind A Nightmare Before Christmas) and Bill Boes (who designed Scooby Doo 2, probably the best aspect of the film), ol' TB just has strong material to riff and big name stars to entice.

Lassen

Rachael and I spent the last three nights in Lassen, enjoying the elevation and escape.

They just opened the road through the park, so it was quite low in traffic and it felt like we had it pretty well to ourselves.

We didn't get to climb the peak, much to Rachael's lament (I'm sure she will vent), but we climbed Cinder Cone, walked out to Mill Creek Falls, and drove from end to end of the park, stopping along the way.

We stayed at Manzanita Lake, which was quiet and nice, at least in the furthermost site, which we had.

If nothing else, it served as an indication of how out of shape I am...

Anyway, here are some highlights in photos and check out Rachael's cuz she has a better camera than me...


Mill Creek Falls... Don't Fall!

Cinder Cone
Lassen from Manzanita Lake
Us
holy moley
the view from our site

I watched this on the Graham Linehan blog, and while it is sort of funny as in "why's he so nervous to be on camera?? tee hee" something else began to worry me.

See how he keeps looking over his left shoulder? Like the spectre of death is waiting, scythe in hand, for him to finish his lines before whisking him off to the 6th circle?

I mean, the corner of Hollywood & Vine is eerie, but there's something else going on here... Maybe they showed him a picture of Roseanne? (Boooo! I know.)

Ahh, Summer

Anyone else looking forward to the festivals?

Shut Up!

Some Recent Pics

Rachael AKA 'Heidi' in the Bald Hills.



John with 'Das Boot'

Proof.

I saw the Mae Shi in the latest issue of Spin. Let it be said that I experienced the parachute first.

I shouldn't badmouth anyone who makes a living writing, but how is Spin still in existence?

Cartoonists, publishers, bands, newspapers, and magazines are in a tailspin.

But good ol' Spin keeps on shitting out an issue.

Out of the Loop

so you all know already...

Craigslist Mofos

If you're like me, you love craigslist. Ebay is too damn complicated. Sell your stuff locally for free. Since moving out of my studio two years ago I've gotten rid of so many possessions (and gathered a few). Seriously! Two cars, a lawnmower, bookcases, 3 TVs, a stereo, dvds, cds. All thanks to c'slist...

With free service, spammer are to be expected. But they've reached a new cleverness so be warned:

Advertising my yard sale a few weeks ago, I got a reply from a legit reading email asking "did you just lose your job?" or some innocuous variation.

I thought this was weird, so I didn't reply anyway. Then Rach got the identical question when she reposted (bad, I know) for the yard sale.

Being dense, I thought it was the same goofball prying into CL posters.

Until today, when I got an email regarding the $5 CD player I posted earlier.

"Having troubles with money? My friends found an awesome way to make some extra cash."

And then it all hit me. These spamsters reply to craigslist ads, posing as very real emailers, and when you reply: BAM! You're on a list for fuckin' ever. So beware folks. They have real sounding emails now that list full names... the whole gamut.

Monday

5:41